Starry Night Kisses
by fooboo24
Summary: This may be their first Starry Night Festival together, but it's certainly not their last. Mainly Vaughn/Chelsea, some Elliot/Julia. For lollipopdiego!


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harvest Moon.

**Author's Notes:** Well, hey, y'all! Yeah, it's about that time again - when I come out of my hobbit hole to bring you another fic.

This fic is for a friend of mine on here - lollipopdiego! She wrote me a very sweet Harvest Moon one-shot, which y'all should go read, and I thought… well, I missed writing you a birthday fic, and because you wrote me that Christmas-themed one, that you deserve one back! So this fic is for you, Miss Lollipopdiego. Also, happy belated birthday, once again - I was originally going to write you a birthday one-shot, but I couldn't come up with anything good!

So, once again, thank-you, and on forth with your one-shot! I hope you like it!

* * *

><p><em>~Starry Night Kisses~<em>

* * *

><p>It was a cold, overcast day, that Winter 22nd, on Sunny Island. Most of the residents of the island were indoors, preparing for Christmas and the Starry Night Festival, which was in two days. Everyone who wanted to go with another on the festive occasion had, by this time, already asked them. Natalie hadn't messed around with asking Pierre - she was much too proud and brave to dawdle on her invitation. Denny had taken Lanna out on a moonlit boat ride, and had asked her there. Even Chen had asked Felicia! There were only two more sets of couples who wished to ask one another - well, they weren't actually couples yet, but they hoped to be someday.<p>

Each member of the couples-to-be were within Mirabelle's shop that frosty night. First off, there was the shy Elliot and glowing Julia. The pair sat at a table along with the local farmer, Chelsea, laughing away and having a good time. The moody cowboy, Vaughn, sat at the counter of the shop, listening in on their conversation and smirking to himself. After their laughing had died down, Elliot's face went pink as his mind was reminded for the umpteenth time that day that he should ask Julia to the Starry Night Festival.

He looked over at the blonde girl, and admired her. She was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. When he first met her, he was convinced that she was way out of his league - she was just too pretty for him, too incredible. But over the last year, he had begun to spend more and more time with her, and he really began to feel a connection with her. For the last little while, he had been meaning to ask her out, but he always ended up chickening out instead. But now - as she turned to him and flashed him a big smile - he knew he couldn't put it off any longer. He didn't care about being rejected anymore; he just needed to let his feelings be known.

The glasses-wearing boy took a deep breath in before turning to Julia. "Julia," he began. "I have something that I've been meaning to ask you…" At this, he placed his hand on top of hers, causing her to face to mimic his, going bright red.

"O-okay, what is it, Elliot?" the young cattle rancher managed out.

Elliot turned to look at everyone around the room, which had gone quiet. He saw Chelsea across the table, who was trying to contain an excited squeal for Julia, and then on the other side of the expanse, was Vaughn, who was nodding subtly, but approvingly, at the pink-haired boy. He swallowed. He hadn't really planned on asking Julia with an audience around, but it's not like he could go back now!

"Well, I was wondering," he turned back to her. "If, maybe, you'd… uh… like to join me for the Starry Night Festival?" Elliot turned away yet again from Julia at that, almost fearing her response. He was positive that she was going to say 'no'…

"Oh, Elliot, I'd love to!" Julia jumped up at that, bringing Elliot with her. She hugged him tightly, and Chelsea finally let out a noise of happiness and smiled brightly at the pair.

"Aw, you guys are just the cutest, you know that?" she said to them.

Julia then let go of Elliot's hands then and bounced over, ecstatic, to Chelsea. "Hey, Chelsea! Let's go figure out my outfit for the Festival, okay?" She took Chelsea by the arm and started to drag her to her room, but the red bandana-wearing girl stood still for a second. "Hey, why'd you stop walking?" Julia looked behind her shoulder at Chelsea.

Chelsea's eyes averted from the blonde's over to the cowboy across the room. He had been making eyes at Chelsea for half of the night, but now that she had finally turned to him, he looked away, embarrassed. After a few seconds passed, he looked back at her, and was frazzled to find that she was still looking at him. She blushed softly at him and then smiled, which in turn caused a small smile of his own to break out on his face.

"Chelsea?"

Chelsea broke out of her little trance, and turned back to her friend. "I... uh... how about I meet you in your room in five minutes?"

Julia nodded, before walking off into said room.

At that, Chelsea walked over to the counter where Vaughn was, leaning over it to look at him. Elliot, noticing that Vaughn and Chelsea wanted to be alone, decided to take his cue and leave. Besides, he had already done what he needed to.

Elliot picked up his jacket from the back of the dining room chair, and slid it on. "I think I'm gonna head out for the night, okay, guys?" He began to walk towards the exit, and when he got not even the faintest response, he turned around to look at the two. They were both leaning over the counter, completely enraptured with each other. He simply laughed to himself then, and left without another word.

The shutting of the door and the cold air entering the room caused Vaughn to break eye contact with Chelsea, and he quickly looked at the door and then back at her.

"So, how have you been? I heard the city was crazy this year... that true?" Chelsea asked him, trying to start up a conversation to ease into what she wanted to ask him.

"Completely. It was so packed for Christmas, you have *no* idea..." the cowboy trailed. The room was quiet for a second then, but Chelsea broke it by voicing her next thoughts.

"You're not... planning on going back into the city for Christmas, are you?" she inquired, her eyes a little worried. She dearly hoped not!

"And miss spending it with you? I don't think so," he told her quietly, leaning over the counter a little farther and placing his hands upon hers. She leaned closer, as well, and her eyelids lowered just a bit at that. This was the moment that he had been waiting for – so that he could ask her to the Starry Night Festival, but without anyone around, without any interruptions.

However, at the moment, what with how close the pair was, it seemed as though things were going a different way... not that he minded, either way. He could just ask her after he kissed her.

Hoping to close the small gap between them, Vaughn leaned over the counter even farther, but just as they were about to kiss, the door to Julia's room slammed opened and the voice of the girl in question was heard.

"Chelsea? Are you coming, or what?" Julia called at her. When she didn't see the girl immediately, she walked out into the main entrance of the building, and saw Vaughn and Chelsea separated, looking at her frantically with bright red faces to match. "Oh, there you are," she said to herself. She walked over to Chelsea. "What was taking so you long out here?"

"I... uh..." Chelsea looked from her friend to Vaughn, and back. "Uh... nothing. I'm coming right now." She began to walk away from the counter and away from Vaughn.

Julia nodded, and joined her friend in walking to her room. Chelsea looked back at Vaughn, and frowned. She couldn't just leave him hanging like that... "Julia, I'll be with you in one minute. I promise. Just go to your room, and I'll meet you there, okay?" Chelsea turned to her friend with a pleading look on her pretty face.

Julia crossed her arms, but after a few seconds, she dropped them and her shoulders drooped. "Okay, fine, but one minute, that's it, and then I expect you in my room!" Julia walked away then, and went into her room, but wanting to hear her friend's conversation with Vaughn, she only pretended to close the door, instead keep it slightly cracked in order to affectively eavesdrop.

Chelsea, smiling hugely, turned back around, and sprinted to the counter. She leaned over the counter, and before Vaughn knew what was happening, she had leaned over it and had planted a kiss on his cheek. "Okay, I have to be quick about this, but... I wanted to know, do you want to spend your night with me on the 24th?" Her eyes were big, bright, eager, and beautiful, awaiting his answer.

As soon as Vaughn processed her question, he stepped forward a bit and lightly placed his hand upon hers. "I'd love to, Chelsea," he answered quietly. The smile that appeared on her face then was simply gorgeous. He was once again going to lean over and kiss her, but before he could, he heard an ear-piercing squeal from behind Chelsea, and jumped back violently.

"Yee! Chelsea! You're going with Vaughn? That's fantastic!" Julia had revealed herself and was now jumping up and down in front of the ever-blushing couple.

Chelsea stared at her friend with wide eyes, before turning back to Vaughn and smiling apologetically. She backed up from the counter and said, "I'll see you, then, okay?"

Vaughn simply nodded at her before allowing her to finally go off with Julia, who was chattering to Chelsea.

"Now that we know who you're going with, we can now decide what *you're* going to wear, okay?" Chelsea just laughed at her friend, shutting the door to her bedroom upon entering it.

Vaughn stood there behind the counter for a few more seconds, before shaking his head to clear his boggled mind, both bewildered with how odd Julia could be and how he was just *this* close to kissing Chelsea, before he sauntered off to his own room for the night.

* * *

><p>The entire next day, Vaughn didn't see Chelsea once. Good thing, too – he was a nervous wreck. Despite seeming so cool and collected about it when she asked him... well, that was when they were by themselves. He didn't know how their night was going to go being spent around others, considering they were going to be spending it with Mirabelle, Julia, and Elliot alongside them.<p>

So the night of the 24th, otherwise known as the Starry Night Festival, came by a little more quickly that Vaughn would have liked. He exited his bedroom, jittering. He was about to go pick up Chelsea from her house, when he heard her voice from the front entrance, which was decorated festively, instead. He figured, then, that she would probably have come early in order for Julia to "prepare" her for the night.

He turned the corner then, and when his eyes landed upon the front entrance where she stood, he had to physically stop his mouth from dropping at how stunning Chelsea looked. She wasn't terribly done up – she'd never been one for full-on makeup, but it was the little things that had been changed: her hair was curled in a few places, her cheeks were slightly flushed, her lips pinker than usual. She was *beautiful*. She was standing beside Elliot, making small talk – Julia was probably putting the finishing touches on her makeup or outfit or something along the lines of that.

Breathing in deeply, Vaughn stepped out into the room to join the two. "Hey, Chelsea, hey, Elliot," he greeted them, walking up to them. Elliot waved at him, and Chelsea turned. He admired her. "Chelsea, you look amazing," he told her honestly.

Bringing a finger up to hair and twirling it around it coyly, a blush appeared across her cheeks. "You think so? You don't think it's too much? I told Julia I—" Vaughn cut her off right then.

"You look perfectly fine – not too done up, at all," he told her reassuringly, placing a hand on her back. The three chatted until Julia finally decided to exit her room and join them.

"Ta-da!" she shouted upon leaving her room, twirling around. "How do I look?"

Elliot's eyes looked up at her, and then blinked, widening. "Whoa," was all he could muster.

Julia simply giggled at his response before walking over and wrapping her hands around his arm. The four of them chattered for a little while longer before they finally heard a booming voice from the kitchen.

"Dinner's done, everyone! Come to the dining room!" Mirabelle called to them.

"'Kay, mom!" Julia called back. She then turned to her friends, smiling. "Let's go then!" And at that, she rushed off to the dining room with Elliot in tow. Vaughn and Chelsea laughed as he struggled to keep up with her, before joining them.

* * *

><p>"What an incredible dinner, Mirabelle!" Elliot said as he sat down at the table. Many different kinds of foods were laid out in front of the five people. There was more than enough to feed each one of them!<p>

Mirabelle smiled and then shrugged. "What can I say? I like to go all out for special occasions like this!"

For about a half an hour, everyone conversed quietly as they ate. It wasn't until Mirabelle, who had been oddly quiet the entire dinner, said something, that the two couples went silent.

"Say, is this your first Starry Night Festival with a girl, Vaughn?" Julia's mother said out of the blue. Vaughn, who was about to eat something, refrained. His face went red as he glared at his plate intensely. A few seconds passed before Chelsea put her hand on his arm.

"Vaughn?"

The cowboy nodded slowly, subtly. It was true; he had never spent a Starry Night Festival with a girl. But that was because he had never had time to in the city – he was always working before he came to the island, and besides, the Starry Night Festival was seldom practiced in the city any longer. It was more of a "country folk" thing now.

"Ah, that's okay," Mirabelle waved her hand at the young man dismissively before turning to her daughter. "Same with Julia, except with a boy. Her father never allowed her to have a boy over during the Festival, haha!" Her mother laughed boisterously, then.

Julia turned away, same as Vaughn, blushing profusely. She could not *believe* her mother just said that! "Mom!" Julia whined, evading Elliot's eyes.

"Oh, hush, dear, I never get to embarrass you like this. Just wait until you have kids – I can't wait to tell them stories about you – same with you, too, Vaughn!" At this point, both Julia and Vaughn's faces were burning, and Elliot and Chelsea were laughing nervously for their respective dates. Mirabelle, however, was not catching on to their embarrassment, and just kept carrying on. "Also, you shouldn't be embarrassed. Your grandfather was the same way, except he never *ever* wanted me to have a boy over! It was a battle trying to convince him to let me go over to your father's house for the Starry Night Festival – but I eventually won! And you should have seen your grandfather when your father proposed... it was on a Starry Night Festival, as well, exactly two years after the first one we went to together. It was amazing, it really was. I still remember it like it was yesterday..." At this, Mirabelle's eyes turned to ceiling and went glassy as she reminisced.

At that, the two pairs looked around at each other worryingly. Julia, frowning, turned to her mother, "M-mom, are you okay?" Julia's voice trembled as she said this, the reminder of her late father almost enough to make her cry.

A tear fell from Mirabelle's eye then, and Julia moved to get up to her mother a hug. "No, no, there's no need, I'm fine," Mirabelle held a hand up as her daughter stood up. Julia gave her a doubtful look, but Mirabelle shook her head, smiling. "I am, really. These are tears of joy, not of sadness. I look back on Starry Nights and all I can remember is being totally happy. And then I look at you four... and I think that one day, you're all going to look back on days like this and just be happy. You'll be so glad that you spent them with the people you love, because I know I am."

Julia blinked then, feeling tears begin to grow at the corner of her eyes. "Oh, mom," she bent down then and gave her mother a big hug, before sitting down again.

Vaughn looked over at Chelsea, whose face had taken on a soft pink shade during Mirabelle's small speech. He blinked at her, and thought about what Mirabelle had said. It was true – he really should cherish times like this with the people he loved, as they were few and far between. At that, he placed his hand on top of Chelsea, which had been resting atop the table, and squeezed it lightly, reassuringly.

She looked over at him, surprised by the sudden contact, but as soon as she saw the look in his eyes, her expression returned to the softened one she had previously. She repositioned her hand then so that their fingers were interconnected, and she could feel the warmth of his palm in hers. She scooted her chair closer to his, and placed her head on his shoulder, resting it there. Vaughn smiled to himself then, before wrapping an arm around her. They couple stayed like that for a short bit, before continuing eating their dinner.

The table remained relatively quiet for the rest of dinner, but it was not an awkward silence, but a peaceful, appreciative silence, that everyone enjoyed.

* * *

><p>Everyone stood in the archway of the dining room that connected to the main room of the house besides Mirabelle, who had retired to bed early. They were all pretty much talking a little bit more before Chelsea and Elliot had to leave for the night.<p>

Chelsea yawned, which made a chain reaction causing the other three to yawn along with her. Well, she was tired, it was nearly 12:00 at night, you see.

Elliot turned to Julia then. "I should probably get going," he said to her, frowning.

"I guess..." she trailed, obviously disappointed.

Elliot turned to look at Chelsea and Vaughn, who were staring, enamoured, into each other's eyes, before deciding to step off from the group with Julia. He walked her closer to the front door, and they stood there.

As they stood there, he brought his arms up to embrace the young blonde. Whispering in her ear, he said, "I just wanted to let you know, Julia... I really, really like you... you know, if it was apparent n'all..." He pulled back from the embrace then, and looked down at her, waiting for a response.

Julia looked up at him, her eyes sparkling, and before he knew it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and was kissing him. He stumbled back a bit, but then regained his balance, and for lack of any other knowledge as to what to do, he placed his arms around her waist and kissed her back. When Julia pulled back, she had a grin plastered onto her face. "I really like you, too, Elliot. Like, a lot."

Elliot smiled brightly at her before pulling her in for another kiss. A few seconds afterwards, though, if became apparent to the couple that Chelsea and Vaughn were still there – and were very much so staring at them.

Vaughn smirked at the couple, while Chelsea smiled widely. "Aww, Elliot and Julia, lovebirds!" Chelsea sang out.

"Good job, buddy!" Vaughn's smirk grew into a small smile when he saw Elliot turn away in embarrassment, turning pink in the process, as well.

Both Elliot and Julia were turned away, blushing. Julia turned her head back to look at them, but instead, her eyes caught something above them, and her face went from embarrassed to wicked in seconds flat.

"Oh, whoo-hoo, you two!" she called at them, smiling devilishly. "I suggest you look above each other before calling us out!" She pointed above them with her fingers, and all eyes looked up, causing their faces to now go red and Elliot to snicker.

Above Chelsea and Vaughn was none other than a sprig of mistletoe. "W-what?" Vaughn managed. "When did *that* get there?"

"My mom loves to put them all over the place," Julia explained. "But don't try to shift what you two have to do now!" Julia almost seemed to cackle that last bit.

"I-I-I-" Vaughn couldn't even say a word. He looked down at Chelsea in his arms, who had calmed down and wasn't as freaked out.

"Hey, it's not that bad, is it?" she cocked her head to the side at her inquiry.

"Well... no," Vaughn admitted. "But with them around..." he motioned to Elliot and Julia, who were watching intently.

Chelsea stepped closer to him then, and whispered in his ear, "Well, then, let's give them a kiss to remember!" He could feel her warm breath on his ear, which made shivers run down his spine.

"I-I guess..." Vaughn stuttered, thoroughly embarrassed. He wished that his first kiss with Chelsea didn't have to be a spectacle, but whatever...

And at that, Chelsea placed her lips on Vaughn, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly, holding him close. Vaughn, though tense at first, relaxed as the kiss proceeded. Her lips were soft and warm, and Vaughn wondered why he was ever nervous about kissing her.

After a few minutes of bliss, the cowboy and farmer pulled away from each other, their faces intensely heated from the close contact. The pair interlocked hands before turning towards the door to see if Elliot and Julia were still there, but, to their surprise, they were not. Though it didn't occurred to the dazed couple at first, it quickly became apparent to them that Elliot and Julia had sauntered off – they probably left to go to Elliot's house.

"I guess they're gone..." Vaughn muttered to no one in particular.

The room was quiet for a few short moments, before Chelsea turned to him again. "I don't mind..." she said quietly, before taking her hand in his.

Vaughn smiled then. "Neither do I, actually."

Turning to each other, the pair caught on to what the other meant, and smiling at each other, they leaned in for another kiss, this time, enjoying it a little bit longer and just a little bit more, in general, now that they knew they weren't being watched.

When they pulled away, Vaughn whispered in her ear, "Do you want me to walk you home now?" He truthfully didn't want the night to end just yet, but he knew that her work as a farmer required her to get a decent amount of sleep, and if she stayed up much longer, she wasn't going to get that.

Chelsea thought for a second, looking extra cute as she did, before shaking her head. "Nah. Why don't we go walk through the forest instead? It's beautiful this time of year, you know."

"Actually, I've never been to the forest before, in all honesty..." the cowboy trailed sheepishly.

Chelsea looked shocked, but then her face softened. Grabbing his hand and leading him to the door, she told him, "Well, I'll just have to show you how beautiful it really is, then!" He willing allowed her to pull him down the trail from Mirabelle and Julia's house to the forest on the other side of the island. It wasn't a particularly nippy night, which was pleasant.

As they walked down the trail, hand in hand, Vaughn squeezed her hand slightly. "Hey, Chels..." he trailed.

"Yeah?" she stopped and turned to him.

"I wanted to let you know, too, that I really like you," he said slowly, leaning down closer to her.

She leaned up slightly, eyelids lowering. "I do, too," she whispered back lowly. She leaned up then and gave him an Eskimo kiss, a real kiss following shortly afterwards. "Merry Christmas and Happy Starry Night Festival, Vaughn," she spoke against his mouth.

As she pulled back from the kiss, Vaughn looked down into her sparkling eyes and decided right then and there that, yeah, he could definitely see himself spending the rest of his Starry Night Festivals with her. "Merry Christmas and Happy Starry Night Festival to you, too, Chelsea."

* * *

><p><em>~End~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong> Let's keep this short and simple – thanks again (for the umpteenth time!), lollipopdiego, and Merry Christmas and Happy Belated Birthday!

_**-Fooboo24**_


End file.
